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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN
SEPTEMBER 29, 1994
REMARKS BY
SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER
FOLLOWING BRIEFING TO
U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL
New York, New York
September 29, 1994
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Good morning. I was just
going to gay that we had a very useful session this
morning, first of NATO, in which the Secretary
General was chosen. Foreign Minister Willy Claes was
unanimously and enthusiastically .selected as the
next Secretary General of NATO, and then we, of
course, have had a good session of the U.N. Security
Council in which there was a discussion of Haiti. I
gave a somewhat lengthy report on the activities of
the multinational coalition, steps that have been
taken in Haiti toward the restoration of democracy
there.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary so far the coalition force
that you have referred to are all Americans. Aren't
you concerned about the image of claiming
multilateralism for what s essentially a unilateral
action?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: In the net few days you'll
see a number of other countries represented. From
the very beginning, the multinational aspect of it
was going to be primarily in connection with the
police trainers and monitor, and they'll be
introduced in he very next few days to perform a
most important function.
QUESTION: On the war Crime Commission, Mr.
Secretary, there seems to be an inordinate delay in
the proceedings by the U.N. Is there anything your
Administration or you could do to move it along so
that those criminals are brought to justice
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: I met with the new Chief
Prosecutor of the War Crimes Tribunal in Washington
just a few days ago. Our Ambassador, Madeleine
Albright, has been very intensively working on that
issue. What I can say is I think that over the next
couple of months, you'll see some very important
step taken. The new prosecutor, Mr. Wellstone, I
think is a man of international reputation, and
they're moving in a deliberate and positive way, and
I would predict that before the year is out, you'll
see very important steps taken there.
QUESTION: Have you had any indication from General
Cedras or General Biamby, in their conversations
with general Shelton or through diplomatic signals,
that they're more willing to leave than they are
first indicated?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: Nothing yet.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, there has been a move afoot
in the Senate to try and set up a March deadline for
withdrawal of most of the U.N. troops. Can you tell
us what the Clinton Administration's response to
that will be?
SECRETARY CHRISTOPHER: The Administration's view is
that any specific deadline is undesirable from the
standpoint of the safety and effectiveness of the
troops. We believe that to set a deadline may play
into the hands of those who might want to disrupt
the effectiveness of the multinational coalition.
So although we think there will be an early time
when the multinational coalition can hand off
responsibilities to the U.N. mission, we think that
the setting of a precise date would not be conducive
to the effectiveness of that force.
Thanks very much.
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